Gastric Bypass Surgery Support Group

Gastric bypass (GBP) is any of a group of similar operative procedures used to treat morbid obesity, a condition which arises from severe accumulation of excess weight in the form of fatty tissue, and the health problems ("co-morbidities") which result. If you are considering gastric bypass or have had it, join the community where we share our experiences and find support.

?Disadvantages of Gastric Bypass

I am desperate to lose weight and have lost 50 odd pounds (I now weigh 300 lbs). This is a regular pattern and fear that I will start gaining again soon. I don't know why I am so afraid of giving up food which has held me back throughout my life and has become a very insincere friend that I am reluctant to give up. I am almost ready to make the decision to go for gastric bypass but need to know the problems as well as the advantages of this major life change.

Congrats on your weight loss that is awesome.... I had surgery only 4 weeks ago so i can only tell you what I know personally. I was very lucky and did not have any major complications. I had a hard time with different meds in the hospital and developed a heart murmur which they said could be from blood loss, but nothing serious. I was very sore and hard to move around at first. But i did not have the tiredness and fatigue alot of people have. Actually I feel more energetic and better than I have in a long time.. I was taking 13 pills qnd 5 shots per day for diabetes plus other medical problems. I take only 3 pills per day now, (2 are to prevent ulcers for the first 6month after sugery. 1 is lipitor until I get more blood work done. I was taking only 1 shot per night after surgery but have since added 1 in the am. I am disappointed with the shots ( i had so hoped my diabetes would disappear) but I have not given up hope of eventually going off insulin all together. I have lost 15 pounds since surgery + relost 13 pounds I regained from surgery due to the ivs and fluid. (shocking to wake up 13 pounds heavier) so 25 since july 16th. I feel better than ever and I am very optimistic about my future. I think once you have the surgery you feel like you have to succeed. You really think before you eat and it makes you really question in an extra 20 calories or whatever is worth it. You just feel like you have to exercise, you have to eat right, you have to succeed after going through everything. Ask alot of questions, talk to alot of people, go back and read the past posts on this sight. Good Luck and keep posting and let us know how you are doing. .....

You have to be ready for this surgery but once you are it can be your greatest gift to yourself. The risks, if done by a reputable surgeon with experience in this procedure are less than 1% more like 0.1%. Gallbladder surgery is riskier than this these days if that puts in in prospective for you (I had both my gallbladder and gbs done the same day).

I don't see any downsides to this now. I have a new perspective on food. I don't crave it 24/7 nor do I wish to eat crap. Your appetite will change as will your cravings. You may deal with head hunger or the need to put something in your mouth but your stomach will be satisfied on very little.

It is a wonderful tool to lose the wt that is holding you back and making you unhealthy but you must commit to it and you will do fine. Ask a lot of questions, go to support group meetings in your area even before you sign up for it. Get the evaluation and begin the process to help clarify things for yourself. You can always change your mind before the surgery.
Good luck!
Donna:)

I had Gastric Bypass on September 17,2007. It is the best decision I have made. First off I wanna say that my Mom had it done January 2006, so I had alot of knowledge about it and knew the changes that had to be made. After the initial seminar with the Doctor, I made the decision to have gastric bypass over Lap Band. Alot of people are simply turned off by the fact you can't have some of your favorite foods anymore. But the truth is its only a small portion, the main thing my Doc told me to stay away from is sweets, and colas. But like in an earlier post your appetite changes, stuff you use to like, you don't anymore...and stuff you didn't you do like (in my case its eating more vegetables), Good luck in whatever you decide to do, but I can tell you in my case, its the best thing I could have done. By the way September 17, 07 I weighed 368 lbs, and today August 14, 08 almost 11 months later I weigh 184 lbs... I have lost half my weight 184 lbs.

I know your frustrations all too well.....I struggled with weight all my life and at age 59 I decided to go ahead with the gastric bypass surgery. That was almost one year ago. I am now 110# lighter (only 25 from my goal weight) and feel GREAT!!! You will now regret the decision should you decide to go for it. I had absolute no complications and was walking before I left the hospital. The benefits to me have been: I was tking three blood pressure meds and not take none. I was taking 24 units of insulin AM and PM, now take 5 in the AM and PM; my doctor said I will most likely be off the insulin by the time I reach my goal weight. The only meds I take now are two Flintstone vitamins with iron, calcium citrate and twice a week a B-12 tablet. It is indeed a major life change. It is, however, a magic solution. You MUST follow the program. It is there for a reason. And you have to WALK, WALK, WALK..I can not stress that enough. But, the rewards that come with it just can not be denied. I know you will make the right decision. Good Luck.

I can tell you grisly tales of all kinds for just about any topic you could come up with. there are things that can go wrong but the statistics are flawed as far as this goes.

Many things that get labeled as complications of this surgery really are the fault of the patient not following the rules. For example, they think that they don't need to take their supplements even though, they have been told they will need to do them for the rest of their lives. Then when they get deficient and struggle with the symptoms of the deficiency, they blame the surgery. It wasn't the surgery that caused the problem.

there is also the regain problem. Yet again, not a complication of the surgery, but it gets blamed for it.

Loose stools can be considered a complication of the surgery but usually they are caused by Lactose intolerance, or a disruption of the normal bacteria in the colon, usually by an antibiotic. The antibiotic thing is usually a temporary thing and can be dealt with.

You can get ulcers but Normies can get them too...

There are leaks, but those can be fixed, they are not comfortable to fix but they are fixable.

Your Dr. can tell you better about the negatives, most of us here don't believe in them, because we are living the life. We are happy even if we have had some parts that weren't so easy to like about our new lifestyle.

Look to the positive, and you will be much happier in your whole life, not just about the surgery.
God Bless!

I got my surgery June 26th and I would advise you to start the process now if you are even thinking about it. It took me 8 months to actually get the surgery. The doctors and your insurance company pound it in your head the changes you will go through. I myself have not had any complications, I was fine the day after surgery in fact, I do not crave food or junk candy or chips, I am truly not interested in food anymore and things I thought I would miss I don't at all. I was in a little pain and went through a &quot;morning process&quot; the first week after surgery where i sat and thought about all the food i would never eat again and really thought I regretted the surgery. but that goes away as does your whole mentality and emotional connection to food. I never believed that I would not care about food. And when I do eat I really think about it now and take my time. I sometimes get satisfied before the 1/4 cup that I am allowed to eat each meal. I would strongly recommend getting the surgery. It is a lot of work, it's hard, and it is NOT a quick fix you are really going to have to try and take good care of yourself but it will be worth it. Hope that helps....

My response to you would be aren't you slowly killing yourself NOW. I finally realized that if I wanted my health back that this was my only option. Just losing weight was not going to help relieve the diabetes or reflux. This surgery I believe is going to solve that for me. I'm only 5 days post-op but can already tell that life is going to be good. Do what you have to do to make life better for you? Just remember that eventually you'll be able to eat what you want, but as before consequences might come with it. Good luck!

When I began to list the disadvantages...it turned out they were actually all positives. My first thought was that it is a disadvantage that I can only eat a small plate of food now...but actually that is a HUGE advantage. And I thought maybe trying something to wear that fits because all my clothes are crazy too big now was an disadvantage, but there again...not really. The more I think about this...there weren't any disadvantages for me.

I have to take vitamins the rest of my life - oh well! I should have been taking them anyways the way I used to eat! I was a carb a holic.... wasn't getting any nutrtients from the foods I was eating.

Hi Poppi, You know you won't have to give up as much as you think. There is lots of yummy food in your future just slightly adapted. I post the foods I've eaten since the beginning of my journey on my blog www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com you are welcome to take a look. Yeah there are a few foods you might not have again but this will be more than likely by choice it's amazing what feeling healthier and looking better does to your mindset. Best wishes in your decision making. ~Michelle

I am only three weeks post-op, but have had absolutely no complications, and the two best things for me...

1. I lost 17 pounds on the liquid diet pre-op and 21 pounds since I had surgery three weeks ago. When is the last time that you lost 38 pounds in 5 weeks?

2. I have had blood pressure problems all of my life, and have been on medicine for the past ten years. Two weeks before surgery, with medicine, my bp was 168/92. I had to stop taking my medicine one week before surgery. One week after surgery (two weeks with no meds) my bp was 124/68! I don't even no when the last time was that it was that low, let alone without meds!

My only regret is that I wish I had the surgery sooner. I am 37 and have been overweight all of my life. I wish I did it earlier so that I could have been skinny for my teens and twenties!

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